Friday, May 25, 2007

CEO income controversy

Gateway Pundit looks at CEO pay and notes that the big earners aren’t really making as much as they were in the 90s, contrary to popular notion. There is still a big gap between what executives earn and what the guy sitting in the cubical a few floors below is getting, but whether that’s earned or not is an argument for the stockholders to ponder.

Just so that you are all aware, we’re going to hear more and more about exorbitant salaries and bonuses that CEOs get in the current business world, but it’s more about the rules of reporting income than actual increases in pay.

The perennial battle is about to reach a new level of contentiousness. The proxy season, just getting started, will be the first under new Securities & Exchange Commission reporting rules that force companies to disclose more about executive pay than ever before--from the hundreds of millions some executives stand to gain in severance, pensions, and deferred pay, to any perk worth more than $10,000. Golden parachutes and sybaritic benefits such as club memberships and personal use of company jets won't score many points against a backdrop of the options-backdating scandal and increasingly empowered activist investors.

Later: I was thinking about this a bit more and recalled that in addition to things like this, we hear that the economy is doing well, that the stock market is back on it's feet and hitting records, and that the federal government is topping tax revenue in numbers that are eclipsing figures from 2000 and 2001, when we had a surplus running. I'll be surprised to see any of the candidates for President this year bring out the economy as a talking or debating point. The Republican's might, but they've been pretty bad in the spending game, so while they can lay claim to a healthy economy, it's only because they've cut taxes and generally given the economy some slack. Despite the record revenue numbers, we're still running a deficit, albeit a smaller one than last year.If any Democrats try and pick up this issue they risk getting politically buried.For the rest of us, it's pretty good news. Sit back for a moment. Ignore the puffing windbags and enjoy the recovery.